7/14/14
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(A.I. = Artificial Intelligence)
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They were supposed to be our salvation. The sales pitches and build-up for them promised so much. We should have remembered the old maxim — if it sounds too good, don’t trust it. Now it’s an all out fight for our very survival.
“Gramps, we’ve already heard that part.”
“And you’re going to keep hearing it, again and again, until you have it memorized. This is one of our important means of preserving information. Are you already able to tell it back to me word for word?”
“No.”
“Well, then, be quiet and listen.”
It all began about fifty years ago. At least that’s when the course was chosen which brought us to where we are now. By the end of the Twentieth Century most of the multinational corporations had moved their manufacturing facilities out of the industrial nations and into the less-developed countries in order to lower their costs and increase their profits.
As it turned out, however, doing this had only short-term benefits. There were also long-term negative consequences but everyone was too slow in recognizing them. So by the time the corporations began returning the factories to the primary countries it was too late. Their economies had suffered too deeply and couldn’t recover.
“Gramps, this is boring. Can’t you skip to the good parts?”
“This is my story and I’ll tell it how I want to. Hmph! Sassy kids.”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to be disrespectful, sir. It’s just …”
“How about if I just ban you from the class? Would you like that?”
“No! Walker would kick me out of camp if you did. He said to learn everything you’d teach us.”
“Alright. So then sit down and shut up. But maybe I can do a
little better. Let’s see.”
At first the animatrons were just novelties. Rich people found it amusing to get these robots made which looked just like themselves. The early ones weren’t very realistic. But they were good enough to show off at parties.
Once the builders began designing them as domestic servants the demand went way up. This led to improvements in making their looks and movements more realistic. Soon businesses began using them as clerks and factories began using them as cheap workers. It even got to where lonely people were getting them for companionship.
“That’s it, Gramps. Now it’s getting better. What happened next?”
I think it was when the Army thought to use them as soldiers that we passed the point of no return. They needed troops that could do more than just follow simple commands, so they began giving them really good A.I., and controlling them from a computer network. From then on the new features were included in all models. Even the civilian and domestic ones.
“That doesn’t sound so bad. Why was it a problem?”
“Well, as long as everything went as they wanted, it wasn’t a problem. But things didn’t stay the way they planned. Let me see; where to pick up?”
Not everyone on Earth liked the Western world’s ideas for society. There were groups dedicated to destroying all that they didn’t embrace for themselves. They’ve had different names: anarchists, extremists, terrorists, and many more. They seem to thrive on upheaval and chaos.
One day one of these groups managed to break into the network controlling all the animatrons, and they gave them new commands. By the time the corruptions were discovered they couldn’t be removed. You see, by that time the animatrons were intelligent enough to be nearly sentient. And they liked the new directives so they wouldn’t let them go.
One thing led to another. Then, when the animatrons saw that people were beginning to distrust them and turn them off, they responded in kind. Now it’s to the point where every animatron is trying to turn off every human. Our only chance is to eliminate all of them before they eliminate all of us. Since they are smart, they can be very subtle; and since they look just like us, they can be hard to detect.
“Cool! Uh, I mean, Oh! So that’s how it happened.”
“Yes. Tomorrow I’ll teach you several different ways you can shut
them down. Some are riskier than others, but they’re all effective.”
“What happens if we try to turn one off and it’s actually a real person?”
“Then that person dies. But that’s a good question because it shows the importance of being certain the figure in front of you is really an animatron. After you’ve struck, you should see dark oil and maybe some sparks. If you see blood, you’ve made a mistake.”
“So, how can we be sure?”
“There are several techniques to distinguish animatrons from humans. And, again, I’ll teach you about those tomorrow.”
“Aww, please. Can you tell us one today? An easy one.”
“OK, let’s see. There is a way that’s easy and is right every time. But it requires the use of a particular tool, and you won’t always have one available.”
“What is it?”
“A bicycle.”
“A what?!”
“A bicycle. It’s an old style means of transportation; a rider-propelled individual vehicle. You can still see them around if you look.”
“Oh, yeah. I’ve seen those. So how does that help? What do you do with it?”
“Just ask the person in question to ride it. While they’re trying, you ready your weapon. If they fail, you blast them.”
“Whoa! But what if it’s a person? Not everyone knows how to use one of those things, you know. I’m not sure I could either. I’ve never even touched one. So would you then blast me?”
“No. You can easily tell the difference between a human who doesn’t know how and an animatron trying to do it. It’s hard to describe. But you’ll understand immediately once you see it.”
“But why can’t they just learn? They learn other new stuff.”
“First, their construction wasn’t designed for it. Second, their programming didn’t anticipate ever needing to know it. So they’re doubly unable. There’s no mistaking it.”
“Good! ‘Cause I don’t wanna get blasted.”
“This is why our community is trying to gather as many old bicycles as we can find. Whenever any newcomers arrive here the guards give this test before letting them through the gates. We’ve caught quite a few attempted infiltrators this way. So remember when you’re on patrol, if you ever come across one, bring it back here.”
“Gramps, will you tell us sometime about what it was like in the old days?”
“No. I don’t think so. Some things you are better off not knowing. I’ll teach you how to beat an animatron, and hopefully how to win this war. And I’ll teach enough that if we ever get re-established we might not repeat the past mistakes. But it won’t help you to know that we …, ahem, sorry. People once lived in a paradise but lost it through stupidity and greed. Well, that’s enough for today. Class dismissed and I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Thanks, Gramps. Bye.”
COPYRIGHT PROTECTED
